Southeast Iowa Band's 'Musical Passport' features 'Superman,' high-seas horn solo on Mount Pleasant stage

MOUNT PLEASANT — Horn wasn't Amanda Stout's first choice in band instruments. With a foundation in piano and violin, she picked up a trumpet in fifth grade.

But that wasn't the fit she wanted, so she switched to French horn, commonly just called "horn" these days.

That's the beauty of trying out band instruments in elementary or middle school, she said. And that's the point the Southeast Iowa Band seeks to make during its spring concert at 3 p.m. March 8 in Mount Pleasant's Chapel Auditorium, 601 N. Main St.

Admission is free; the band is supported by freewill contributions. The event will last about 90 minutes, and include one intermission and a reception in the first-floor lobby afterward.

Music Director Robert McConnell has dubbed this year's spring program "Musical Passport" — and the title fits. In the span of a single afternoon, the concert travels from the tip of South America to the mountains of Armenia, from the streets of Havana to the cosmos, all without leaving Chapel Auditorium.

"It's a great concert for parents and students, particularly for parents whose kids are getting to an age where they might start band," McConnell said.

McConnell hopes to see lots of families in the audience, and has a special invitation for young concertgoers. Band members will introduce their instruments by playing snippets of music so everyone can hear those individual voices that meld into one ensemble when played together — giving students a chance to discover which instrument might be the start of their own musical passport.

Solo spotlight

Playing together is what drew Stout to the Washington Municipal Band during her high school years at Mid-Prairie in Wellman. Sitting alongside adults in the community group, she found camaraderie and encouragement that helped solidify her horn choice, and show her that she could make music beyond high school and college experiences.

Now 32, with advanced music and management degrees to her credit, the Iowa City resident performs with some of those early mentors in the Southeast Iowa Band, as well as in the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra and Ottumwa and Quincy symphonies. She also subs with several others, in Dubuque, Waterloo-Cedar Falls and Orchestra Iowa, based in Cedar Rapids.

Stout will be in the Southeast Iowa Band's solo spotlight March 8, as she blazes through "Cape Horn."

"It's full of energy and a lot of big horn calls and horn riffs," Stout said. "The energy stays up for the whole piece. And then there's a beautiful slow section in the middle, where I think of it as slow ocean waves, but then the energy comes back at the end."

All ages

The entire Musical Passport program features an eclectic repertoire offering something for all ages in attendance, McConnell said.

"It's a fun band concert to come to, where people will recognize some of the tunes we're playing," he said, beginning with John Williams' soaring "Superman" theme.

"One of the highlight pieces will be 'Armenian Dances' by Alfred Reed," he said. "That's a really well-known band literature piece. The 'Light Cavalry Overture,' that's one that definitely adults 100% will recognize. It's so familiar to people, but they don't know what the name of it is.

“And we also end the concert with a really cool Latin piece."

The band debuted a sight-reading component in last fall's Fairfield concert. It was so popular that a different surprise piece is on the program this time around, too. Even McConnell is kept in the dark.

"They've never seen it before, and I've never seen it," he said. "We pass it out, and we have two minutes to get it prepared." All in full view of the audience.

Instrumentation

Those who attend orchestra concerts will notice differences, especially with the absence of strings. They'll see more trumpets, clarinets and percussion than in the band's supporting organization, the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra. Saxophones also are in the mix.

Many of the ensemble's 50 members are band directors and music instructors from across southeast Iowa, so education is a vital part of the band's mission. It's also an opportunity for professional musicians and high-achieving students to perform demanding repertoire.

"One of our goals is to challenge everybody to play at their highest musical levels," McConnell said.

They rehearse over five Sunday evenings, then perform a matinee concert in the fall and the spring.

Stout enjoys not only performing with many of her Southeast Iowa Symphony colleagues who also play in the band, but also with the different instruments not typically found in orchestras.

"I get to collaborate, meet with other musicians there, and just spend more time getting familiar with band rep," Stout said, "because once you graduate from college, you don't really ever get the chance to play band repertoire again, as there's not professional bands really in the country unless you're in a military band. A lot of the rep and a lot of the groups you'll end up playing with are orchestral, so it gives me the opportunity to stay in the band world."